PC won't restart after updates

Hi all.

I rarely restart my computer these days, but there were Windows Updates today. I click restart now, the computer appears to be restarting then gets "stuck" at the Windows page....the bar below the Windows logo stops at one point and then I have to manually restart (holding down the power button until it powers down), and then hope that it will restart.

Sometimes it boots 3 or 4 times then I get a black screen, so I manually restart again....eventually it works, but I'm thinking that eventually it's not going to work.

I just installed another update, and I'm goint to restart (trepidatiously).

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Another suggestion is to run "chkdsk c: /r" in a command prompt (no quotes). This will help fix any software problems you may have.

 

The last time I did a disk check, it was FULL of crap and took about 15 minutes to fix everything. Crazy. I'll run it again though. Thanks =)

 

Indeed I have been mislead regarding the downtime. Frankly, I have been relunctant to even put it in standby mode because it's so iffy that it will not restart properly afterward.

I have wiped and reinstalled XP several times (the last time was a couple of months ago), and I never keep programs I don't use regularly.

I was a little worried about running the registry cleaner with CCleaner just because I know all too well how fast and easy it was with other cleaners to screw EVERYTHING up, but knowing it's fool-proof is great news, and I'll run it right away.

I was really concerned that my hard disk was failing, and if that doesn't seem to be the case.........pheewww....

Thanks!

 

I've been at this for awhile now. I've gone as far as to wipe and reinstall XP. I can't seem to isolate the conditions, but when I'm tasking (surfing, downloading, gaming, ect...) the PC screen freezes seemingly at random. Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn't work and I have to shut down manually (pushing power button). It will restart the first time for the most part. There have been times when I have had to manually shut down two or three times to get started again.

I don't know if it's another problem all together. Any/all help much appreciated.